Intel

iPad and iPhone clones aren't news, but once in a while you do come face to face with one that looks like a cheap knockoff on the outside but actually offers something unique and almost tempting when you take a closer look. Take for example this Chinese-made Onda V919 3G Air which is, without a sliver of doubt, meant to copy the design of the iPad Air 2. But inside, you are met with both Windows and Android, running on specs that are almost decent and a price tag that is definitely more than decent.

This week Samsung is letting loose their newest in top-end notebook hardware with the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Ultrabook. This newest notebook in the ATIV line will come with a 2560 x 1600 (2K) display with LED technology across 12.2-inches. Inside you'll find an Intel Core M 5Y10c fanless Broadwell processor with Intel HD Graphics 5300, joined by a 256GB SSD (with a 128GB option also available). This device will appear at CES 2015 in Las Vegas first where SlashGear will get up close and personal with it - just you wait!

Intel is trying to make it easy for Windows PC and smartphone users on Android or iOS to migrate data from their device to a new Chromebook. Intel has introduced apps for Android and iOS devices as well as software for Windows PCs called Intel Easy migration. The goal of the software is to make it easy to transfer data like photos, video, and more to the cloud-based Chromebook.

After failing to take the mobile device industry by storm, Intel is starting to look elsewhere for its next big break. It has already set its eyes on wearables, as the MICA smart fashion bracelet demonstrated. Now it is also laying the foundations for another venture, the so-called Internet of Things, or simply IoT. Intel's new IoT Platform is poised to cover anything and everything needed for enterprises to set up and then customize their own IoT implementations for securely connecting devices to the cloud and, in the end, save money and energy.

Smartglasses are picking up speed, with Google rumored to be adding Intel's presence to its Glass wearable and Vuzix putting its own M100 model up on Amazon for pre-order. Though smart eyewear is a lot of things, stylish isn't really one of them, and Intel aims to change that. The company has announced a new collaboration with Luxottica to mix its smart technology with the latter company's fashionable eyewear knowledge to usher in a future of stylish wearables.

Professor Stephen Hawking has been given a new voice, with an Intel-made communications system allowing the famed physicist to express himself more quickly, as well as opening the door to similar technology for others affected by similar diseases. Hawking, who has a motor neuron disease (MND) related to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which has left him almost completely paralyzed, can now type twice as fast as before, while other tasks like web searches are up to ten times faster. Intel is releasing the new software, three years in the making, under a free open-source license.

Security for your Intel-toting PC may soon be getting a whole lot easer. Intel made clear this morning that they'd be acquiring PasswordBox, a service that will allow users to collect all of their webpage passwords in to one package, requiring that they only remember a single password instead. PasswordBox has been in service for about a year, having been downloaded by users over 14 million times in the past 12-18 months. Intel has not let it be known exactly how they'll be integrating PasswordBox into their own services yet, but they have suggested that the PasswordBox will be moved into their security software business.

Guess what: Google Glass isn’t dead. The news that Intel will probably be found inside the next generation of Glass wasn’t so much a surprise for its “x86 vs ARM” narrative, but that Google was not only still committed to the wearable project but actively developing it. Although unconfirmed, as the whispers would have it, Intel’s silicon will oust the aging TI cellphone processor found in the current iteration of Glass, quite the coup for a chipmaker still struggling to make a dent in mobile. The switch is about more than just running Glass’ Android fork, however: it could mean a fundamental and hugely beneficial evolution in how Glass operates and how it addresses some of the current shortcomings in battery life and dependence on the cloud.

Google Glass might be losing some of its supporters lately but it has gained a somewhat surprising new ally. Insider sources claim that Google will be replacing the Texas Instruments processor with a still unnamed Intel mobile chip. At least, for the next iteration of Google Glass, a wearable device that has yet to see the light of day in retail. The new alliance is both fitting and rather unusual, given how the companies each have their own struggles in that specific corner of the market.

Despite what seems to be nothing but losses on the mobile front, Intel isn't ready to call it quits just yet, at least not formally. While some companies (HP and Sony come to mind) are divorcing their businesses in order to remain profitable in at least one area, Intel isn't about to let someone else take its mobile and tablet business elsewhere. Instead, it will be merging that loss-making unit into its division in charge of making chips for PCs, in the hopes that they will finally hit some sweet spot in the end.